Ignoring His Message, Misunderstanding His Purpose

Those to whom Jesus came first, the Jews, misunderstood Him and saw Him as a rebel, misfit and a fanatic. In their minds He was, at best, a misguided rabbinical teacher spreading heresies that contaminated the teachings and laws of Moses and Judaism. In truth, they had reduced the message of Moses to a sophisticated religion where strict observance of the laws became more important than the original purpose for those laws and they expected Jesus to do the same. The original intent of God's mandate to Moses was not to establish a religion but a nation of people who would love, serve and honor God. ("A royal priesthood and a holy nation")

Constitutional Scripture: I Peter 2:9)But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

The Muslim misunderstands Him as simply another in a line of prophets who was a great teacher, a good man and a great prophet; but who fell short and failed to deliver the finished work of redemption to mankind.

The Hindu misunderstands Him as a good teacher, a good man and just another deity to add to their list of gods to provide a service in their need for spiritual security.

The atheist, agnostic and humanist see Him as a mere man, an historical figure, whom a group of misguided men transformed into a god and an object of worship. They acknowledge that Jesus existed but deny any of His miracles as well as His claim to divinity.

The media, scientists and secularists see Him as fair game for investigation and criticism. They acknowledge Him as an interesting subject for arguments, theories, discussions and debates while ignoring His divine claim and questioning His validity, integrity and sometimes His very existence.

Christians have misunderstood Him as the founder of a religion and have transformed His teaching and His methods into customs and traditions and His activities into rituals. Many even have reduced His message to nothing more than an escapist plan for getting to heaven and His promises as a mere fire insurance policy for escaping the pains of a tormenting hell.

From the very beginning, Jesus made it quite clear that the principle need of the human race, and the only solution of mankind's dilemma was the Kingdom of Heaven. So, how did we miss it? His first public statement reveals this Kingdom priority:

Constitutional Scripture: (Matthew 4:17)From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand".

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.